Colored Fire

Broad Question

What is the effect of different materials on fire?

Specific Question

What materials change the color of fire?

Hypothesis

It is hypothesized that almost all of the materials will alter the color of the flame that they introduced to.

Graph of Hypothesis

Variables

Independent Variable: The material introduced to the fire

Dependent Variable: The color of the fire

Variables That Need To Be Controlled: Flame source, amount of material, wind

Vocabulary List That Needs Explanation

---

---

---

---

General Plan

An experiment was conducted to determine what different materials would effect the color of fire. It was planned to take small amount of certain materials and burn them. The materials were them put in metal spoons.The experiment had to be conducted at school under supervision because it involved fire. The flame was recorded by taking a video of it so that it could be accurately determined what the color of the fire was. The color of the fire was the DV. A picture is taken of the flame so that it could be put on a poster. The different material that was burned was the IV.

Potential Problems And Solutions

An object catches fire near the Bunsen burner; use fire extinguisher or ensure that all objects near fire source are inflammable.

Safety Or Environmental Concerns

people near flame source must be careful us being burnt, the experiment will be conducted in the morning so as to avoid having anyone but the people conducting the experiment around.

Experimental Design

(add the correct headings from the experimental design page before beginning)

Resources and Budget Table

-Complete design and collection of all materials: March 2nd
-Run a test of the set up, not collecting data, just seeing if everything works: March 4th
-Run first official trials of experiment, collect first data: March 6-7th
-Complete all trials of experiment and all data collection: March 21st
-Complete all data analysis; mean median, range, graphs: March 23rd
-Complete results and conclusion write up: March 25th

Time Line

-Complete design and collection of all materials: March 2nd
-Run a test of the set up, not collecting data, just seeing if everything works: March 4th
-Run first official trials of experiment, collect first data: March 6-7th
-Complete all trials of experiment and all data collection: March 21st
-Complete all data analysis; mean median, range, graphs: March 23rd
-Complete results and conclusion write up: March 25th

---

---

---

---

Background Research

https://docs.google.com/a/students.jbartlett.k12.nh.us/document/d/1OFXNR1bBxoO4KzmwbTEU_prFU4H5sbdXyuzlR4wh4V8/edit

References

"Colored Fire Flames." Campfire and Fire Starting. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2012. <http://www.campfiredude.com/campfire-magic.shtml>.
Helmenstine, Anne Marie, and Ph.D.. "How To Color Fire - Fun Fireplace Instructions." Chemistry - Periodic Table, Chemistry Projects, and Chemistry Homework Help. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2012. <http://chemistry.about.com/cs/howtos/a/aa052703a.htm>.
Helmenstine, Anne Marie, and Ph.D.. "Colored Fire Spray Bottles."Chemistry - Periodic Table, Chemistry Projects, and Chemistry Homework Help. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2012. <http://chemistry.about.com/od/funfireprojects/a/coloredfire.htm>.

Detailed Procedure

Procedure:
1. Take material and fill metal spoon with it
2. Activate flame source
3. Hold spoon filled with material over flame source
3. Record any difference in the visual quality of the flame color
4. Repeat all previous steps with the same material until all trials are done
5. Repeat all previous steps with a different material

Photo List

---

---

---

---

---

Results

All Raw Data

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0Ahd1KHaNXWjNdG9rc0RjMWgxR0Q0T2I2dEt3ejdzd1E&single=true&gid=0&output=html

Graphs

Photos

Magnesium Sulfate

Calcium Chloride

Potassium Chloride

Sodium Chloride

Copper Sulfate

Lithium Chloride

---

---

---

---

---

Data Analysis

Experiments were conducted to determine how different materials affect the color of fire. The materials tested were: magnesium sulfate, calcium chloride, potassium chloride, sodium chloride, copper sulfate and lithium chloride. When magnesium sulfate was exposed to a flame, the color of the flame did not change and stayed orange. When calcium chloride was exposed to a flame the color of the flame did not change either and stayed orange. Potassium chloride and sodium chloride, both turned the flame blue at the beginning and then the flame turned orange. When copper sulfate was exposed to a flame the flame turned green with a bit of blue and red at the top. When lithium chloride was exposed to a flame the flame fluctuated from orange to red. It was predicted that calcium chloride would turn the flame orange, copper sulfate would turn it green, and lithium chloride would turn it red. Those predictions were right for these materials but were wrong for magnesium sulfate, potassium chloride, and sodium chloride. It was predicted that these would turn the flame white, purple, and yellow, respectively. Those predictions were not observed. The materials instead produced an orange flame for reasons undetermined.

Conclusion

The independent variable was the different materials that we exposed to the flame. They were magnesium sulfate, calcium chloride, potassium chloride, sodium chloride, copper sulfate and lithium chloride. The dependent variable was the color of the fire that the different introduced materials produced. It was shown through this experiment that the materials calcium chloride, copper sulfate and lithium chloride all changed the color of the fire how they were predicted to, but the materials magnesium sulfate, potassium chloride, and sodium chloride did not. These results were confirmed when we had a survey with our class and played the videos of the materials being burnt for the class and had them tell us what color they believed the material burned.

---

---

---

---

---

Discussion

The question in this experiment was how do different materials affect the color of fire?”. It was answered, and it was found that the materials calcium chloride, copper sulfate and lithium chloride all changed the color of the fire how they were predicted to. This evidence is supported by the survey we took to see if people agreed with out data by showing them the videos that we had taken of the materials being burned.
The hypothesis was not completely supported by the results because not all of the materials burned the color they were supposed to, but it was partially supported because some of the materials did burn the way they were supposed to. Three of the materials results can be explained through our research, but the three materials that didn’t burn the way that they were predicted to can not be explained through our research because the color that our research suggested.
We noticed a pattern that most of the chemicals didn’t change the color of the flame but when they did it was only for a short amount of time. Like copper sulfate, the flame turned an intense green but fairly quickly changed back to a normal orange. Other materials like magnesium sulfate didn’t have any affect on the flame and just stayed orange.
Our original plan for this experiment was to dissolve different chemicals into lamp oil which would be sprayed from a spray bottle into a flame. Our plan hit a dead end when the chemicals failed to dissolve in the lamp oil. After waiting a day to see if it would dissolve we changed from lamp oil to rubbing alcohol still with no success. Our next move was just to put the chemicals on a metal spoon and just to hold it over the flame. This last attempt was successful with okay results. We took video of the flame but we should have taken better video of the flame with a better camera. It was found that the results we had was “our opinion” so we took a survey of what colors other people saw when they watched our videos. We got results from this survey but we should have been more precise with this survey. Even though we hit these many bumps we will still be able to continue and finish our experiment.
We needed to know what different materials to test and what colors to expect the material to burn in order to conduct this experiment. To find this information we had to go online and look at the results of other experiments run by different people. Once we found out what materials we would need an what colors they were expected to burn we started our experiment. We planned to run it differently, but then we did more research and found that the materials we had would not dissolve in lamp oil or alcohol so we instead resorted to a more commonly used method and held the salts in spoons over a flame source. After a few seconds the flame started to burn a different color and would start recording the flame on video. For this experiment we needed to have a bunsen burner, several small metal spoons, and a video camera. Our experiment suggests to me that the materials that did not burn the color that we expected them to burn may not have burned the color expected because the flame that the bunsen burner produced was not hot enough, or, with materials like the potassium chloride which has other ingredients in it they were not purely the material we needed, so they did not burn correctly.
The knowledge gained through our experiment will help firework companies and people that just want to put on a cool fire display at home. Almost anyone could use this information and it might help prevent people from having to go out and buy and expensive fire color changing kit because they could instead just go out and buy each of these salts for a much lower price. This experiment and others in the future like it could potentially reveal new materials for firework companies to use in their fireworks to make different colored fireworks. This information also has potential for helping people that might use flares, because they could send up different colored flares for different reasons.

Abstract

The independent variable was the different materials that we exposed to the flame. They were magnesium sulfate, calcium chloride, potassium chloride, sodium chloride, copper sulfate and lithium chloride. The dependent variable was the color of the fire that the different introduced materials produced. It was shown through this experiment that the materials calcium chloride, copper sulfate and lithium chloride all changed the color of the fire how they were predicted to, but the materials magnesium sulfate, potassium chloride, and sodium chloride did not. These results were confirmed when we had a survey with our class and played the videos of the materials being burnt for the class and had them tell us what color they believed the material burned.